Suffering Ends
by VVAgirl
Summary: My interpretation of how the Doctor will finally remembers who Angel is to him. An answer to LizzeXX's challenge. One-shot.


_**A/N: I know a lot of you might be disappointed that this isn't a chapter update for **_**Secrets of a Companion****_. But this was just something that I had to do. LizzeXX is one of my absolute favorite author on FF and I needed to answer her challenge. Plus I'm having trouble with my laptop which had most of the next chapter written on it. So once it's fixed I will update within a couple of days. I swear! _**

_**So this is basically a one-shot for LizzeXX's 'Heart of Time Saga' for her Time Lady OC Angel. While at first, Angel wasn't my favorite of her OC's, she's found her way into my heart(s) and I love her as much as Evy or the Professor. Here's the prompt for the challenge:**_

"_**The Doctor has forgotten his Mate, Angel, and so many hope he one day remembers her. While I won't say when or how or if he will, the challenge is open for you to decide. Write a one-shot/chapter of your own about how you picture the Doctor remembering his Mate. It can take place at any time, in Series 5 or 6 or 7 or you can even make up your own moment in the 50th special if you think it'll be that long. I'd say you could even go back to Eleventh Hour if you'd like to interpret it as (/hope it was) a momentary lapse of memory. You can write it in any manner you'd like, have the Doctor or Angel react any way, in any episode, with however much fluff (or even angst) you'd like:)"**_

_**Enjoy! **_

It was happening so fast. It didn't even make particular sense to him. He didn't seem to be in control of his emotions. Everything was heightened. His anger peeked quicker than usual and he snapped at people more often than not. Everything seemed to be tinged red at times, while other times the world was devoid of any color. He hadn't even left the TARDIS in what seemed like days and he knew Amy and Rory were worried not only for him but also Angel.

Angel was still in the med bay, in some sort of coma that none of them could even begin to explain. There wasn't even a primary cause for it. It just...happened.

* * *

_Angel had been laughing behind him along with Rory and Amy as he set the TARDIS back into the vortex. They'd just picked Amy and Rory up from one of their many honeymoon spots after he and Angel had had their adventure with Sarah and Jo. Oh, the Shansheeth. Thinking they could out smart them. Especially when Angel was on their side. It just seemed like nothing bad happened with Angel. The few time she'd been away from him, like that whole Dream Lord debacle had not been fun._

_Amy had just been telling them about something stupid Rory had done at the hotel they'd been staying in and he'd made a comment along the lines of 'You'll never see me married or mated' when suddenly, the laughter behind him had cut out. It took him a few moments to realize this before whipping around to see the trouble._

_It was as though he'd been made temporarily deaf. All he could see was Angel on the floor, clutching at her stomach; her face scrunched in pain, looking far too much like she was when she'd been ill, and Rory holding her up, screaming her name with Amy standing behind them. Looking completely shell shocked. There hadn't been any warning, nothing to tell of Angel's condition. She'd just passed out and hadn't woken since._

* * *

He squeezed Angel's hand a little harder, his eyes trained on her face. It was smooth and unblemished. The complete opposite to when she'd collapsed. He just kept sitting there, waiting for her lip to twitch. And eye lash to flutter. A hint that she would soon be awake and with him. But it scared him.

Not just Angel being ill, that was terrifying enough. But, having all these feelings and not knowing why. When he'd first seen Angel, lying there helpless, his stomach had dropped so far that he was sure it was at his feet. Then, when he noticed Rory cradling her, an overwhelming anger had over taken him. What right did he have to touch her? He was just a human, a person who didn't know the first thing about Time Lord physiology or any way to help her. He'd literally had to mentally restrain himself from walking over to him and flinging him across the room. Sadness had come next upon seeing Angel not reacting to anything or anyone. It was heartbreaking to see her there so lifeless. Next, a fierce determination and protectiveness had over taken him when he saw Rory try and pick her up. He'd taken that moment to rush over to them and easily slide her into his arms, not even noticing the extra weight. He did notice, however, the ease in which she fit. His arms seemed to be made for holding her. He'd sped off down the TARDIS hall towards the med bay with Amy and Rory following behind.

The small beeping of the monitor that kept tabs on her hearts rate tinged his mood with a little anger. When he'd connected everything to Angel in the med bay and began running tests on her to see what might have caused this, Rory wouldn't let him see any of the results. That was the point that his anger had flared up again and his sight had been tinged red. Again, there was this human trying to get in the way of him helping her. She was the only thing he had left in his life besides the TARDIS and she seemed to be very cross with him at the moment. He'd out right refused to agree to anything of the sort, but it couldn't be helped since whenever he tried to read any inkling of data that TARDIS shut down the machines and seemingly deleted any results they had come up with. But of course, if Rory went to check on her, everything would be in perfect working order. It irked him to no end.

He was brought out of his tiny glare by the sound of Rory coming in to check the print outs once more. The Doctor huffed a little before turning back to stare at Angel. He kept tabs on the sounds of Rory's foot steps and breathing and was immediately alerted when he heard him groan. His head snapped up and he saw the human nurse slumped over the print outs.

"What's wrong?" The Doctor demanded, not liking the look on his face. It was never good when someone sounded like that. _Especially when it's a stupid, bumbling..._No. The Doctor wouldn't got here.

Rory looked over at him with agonized eyes and then to Angel. Almost smiling at her peaceful face. It looked as if she was sleeping. He went over and gently laid a kiss to her forehead, ignoring the sharp in take of breath from the Doctor, "I'm sorry," he whispered to her before facing the Time Lord. "I'm about to tell you something that I shouldn't. I promised Angel I wouldn't tell you. I gave her my word and it hurts me to have to break it, but telling you might be the only thing that can save her," he paused as he took in the Doctor's facial expression. It was a mixture of confusion and understanding. A strange combination. "What I'm about to tell you explains a lot about why Angel has been tired a lot lately and why she's excused herself to the bathroom a lot. It's also the reason why the TARDIS isn't letting you see the results."

"Rory, just tell me," the Doctor spat out, extremely annoyed with the ex-Roman's beating around the bush. Rory gave him a glare as the TARDIS shuttered a little.

"Angel's pregnant," He said simply, giving the Doctor what he asked for. The simple truth, told at point blank range. And it was strange to be almost pleased with the look on the Time Lord's face when he'd uttered those words

"No," he muttered dejectedly, "No. S-She can't be. Time Lords can only reproduce with other Time Lords." But he saw Rory nodding.

"I know. Angel told me. But think about it," Rory beseeched him as he stood up to let the Doctor have some alone time, "Cause right now, from what the scans are telling me, Angel has lost the will to live. And right now her and that baby need a reason to pull out of this. So you better damn well think about what I've just told you! Or trust me, you won't just have Angel's family to worry about." The threat was evident in his voice but the Doctor didn't seem to care as the nurse left the room.

Angel couldn't be pregnant. There weren't any other Time Lords left. Rory had to've read the scan wrong. He snatched up the print out, not even thinking about the TARDIS erasing them on him, luckily; she seemed to have been pacified for now.

Rory was right. The scans showed that Angel was about 18 months pregnant. But how could this be? He was the only Time Lord left in the universe. Angel wouldn't have hidden any she found from him. And he certainly would never force her to do...what it took to produce a baby. This didn't make any sense to him. The facts were all wrong and on top of that, his head started hurting the more he thought about it. In fact, it hurt more than usual when he was concentrating on a problem. It was as if something was scrounging around it, looking for a way out. The smell that seemed to be wafting through the med bay wasn't helping any either. It was as if it was mixture of chocolate chip cookies, red-velvet cupcakes, and brownies. Than music began to play.

**I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There is just one thing I need  
I don't care about the presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree**

**I just want you for my own**  
**More than you could ever know-**

* * *

_The Doctor's light humming turned into him singing quietly in her ear as they swayed on, "...I just want you for my own," he sang with the end of the slow song, "More than you could ____ever__ know," she smiled, feeling more in his words than ____just__ lyrics, "Make my wish come true," he tilted her chin up to look into her eyes, "All I want for Christmas is...you," he smiled at her, meaning it, "__All__ I want for Christmas, is ____you__," he sang to her, making her shiver, she loved his voice._

* * *

He breathed in sharply. Where had that come from? He knew that it was on the _Titanic_ at Christmas. But he didn't remember that part. When had _that_ happened. Before he could question it further, he was thrown into another memory.

* * *

_The Doctor's head snapped up to see someone dressed in what had once been a white tunic and white pants, now grey with age and grime, a mane of long, black, dirty and knotted hair falling over their face, hiding them. There was a sort of metal band around the head as well. He half-jumped over the desk to get around it as he made his way towards the figure, the map and computer forgotten. He reached up, his hands moving through the hair to cup the face, turning it to look up at him, the hair falling away._

* * *

Van Statten. When he'd first met Angel. It had been one of the happiest days of his life to find out another Time Lady was alive and was with him. But he felt as if it should've been more special than what he thought of it now.

* * *

_The Doctor's eyes widened in horror as he ran the rest of the way to her, "Angel..." he breathed, reaching out to cup her face, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to pick up ____some__ sort of sensation from her, __anything__…but there was __nothing__…the brain was wiped clean._

_His hearts stopped. The __brain__ was wiped __clean__. There was __nothing__ there. Nothing at all. Whatever it was that was happening had taken everything that Angel had. Her beautiful smile, her warm eyes, her laugh, her mind, her soul...it had left her an empty __shell__ of the incredible woman she was. He stroked her cheek softly, his hearts constraining painfully as he felt the too-smooth skin._

_This __couldn't__ be happening, it just couldn't, not to Angel._

_He couldn't ____lose__ her__._

* * *

The Doctor almost stumbled back at the emotion he felt behind the memory. The anger was almost stifling. He'd felt something like that when Angel had first fallen ill. But, that? It was astounding.

* * *

_He looked down at her, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small crystal on a silvery chain and held it out to her. She frowned, confused, and turned when he motioned her to do so, allowing him to put it on her. She gasped, looking down at the crystal, "Doctor…" she breathed, seeing the Whitepoint Star, the same one that the Master had used, now dangling from her neck._

_"To remember me," he told her, dropping a kiss to the back of her head as she turned._

_She looked up at him sadly, tears in her eyes, and placed a hand on his cheek, "As though I could EVER forget you."_

_He smiled, placing a hand on hers to hold it there when his hands started to glow, "I don't want to go," he whispered to her. He didn't want to go, he didn't want to leave her…he didn't want someone else to take her from him…_

* * *

He blinked and looked down at Angel's neck and did indeed see a Whitepoint star dangling from a silver chain. According to that memory, he'd given it to her to remember him by. But why would he feel that strongly about a regeneration leaving? They were all him essentially. Why would she care anymore about that one than him?

* * *

_"__You__ may not remember, but __I__ do," the Dream Lord glared, "I remember everything. Every one. Every moment, every thought, every feeling, everything."_

* * *

Was this what the Dream Lord had been talking about? All these little moments that were hitting at strange times? The Dream Lord was his subconscious, maybe he knew something that he was suppressing?

* * *

_"I want you to bond to the TARDIS too," he said, watching as her mouth dropped open in shock, of __anything__ he could have said, he knew that was NOT what she expected, even being a precog._

_"Doctor…" she shook her head, "Are you serious?"_

_"Very."_

_"But…the ONLY time __two __people__ bond to the __same__ TARDIS is when…"_

_Is when they take a Mate._

_"I know," he smiled at her._

_On Gallifrey, TARDISes weren't just transport ships that shared a connection to its pilots, they were __alive__, they became a part of their pilot's __life__! Two people would typically only bond to the same TARDIS when that TARDIS was meant to become a part of the family so to speak. More often than not their children would become pilots of it as well. It was a family object, meant to keep an entire family safe, it was where the notion of the pilots designating 'companions' came from. The TARDIS would only protect those the pilot trusted and cared for, most often their children but also their trusted friends, their 'companions.'_

_And she knew what this meant, he wasn't asking her to break tradition and to bond to the TARDIS without Mating to him, he was __literally__ asking her to become his Mate as well._

_That was...a ____very__ serious thing to do._

_She blinked, "But we can't."_

_"Why not?" he frowned, hurt, his hearts on the verge of breaking._

_"Doctor I…"_

_"Theta."_

* * *

He'd told her his name. He'd told her his name! That only happened when two people were Mating! How? What? His head was almost exploding at the onslaught of information. And it wasn't getting any better as snippets of other memories flashed through his mind.

* * *

_... he quickly reached out and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply..._

_..."You're so beautiful," he told her in a breath, the awe he felt when he looked at her shining in his eyes..._

_..."Angel!" the Doctor quickly pulled the woman into a hug, literally pulling her off the floor as __he squeezed her tightly..._

_..."Not that I didn't enjoy that," the Doctor's voice whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine, "But what brought that rather spectacular kiss on?" __Angel blushed a bit, "I was, um…jealous, I think."..._

_..."__All__ I want for Christmas, is __you__," he sang to her..._

_...Nella..._

* * *

"Angel!" He breathed out as the memories finally stopped. He remembered. He remembered everything. He looked down at his Mate. His beautiful, sleeping, comatose Mate. And he almost wanted to cry for what he'd done to her. He'd left her alone when he'd sworn he'd never do such a thing. But, he could tear himself down later. Right now, he needed to see Angel's beautiful grey eyes with flecks of gold in them.

"Angel, wake up," he whispered in her ear, gently caressing her stomach that he could now see was heavily pregnant. "Nella," he whispered and was pleased when he saw her face twitch a little. He wondered how long she'd been longing to hear her name from his lips, "Nella, wake up. I remember." Angel's eyes fluttered a bit and finally opened, blearily looking around her til they reached his face, "Hi." He said softly.

"Hi," she answered back, still looking a bit confused.

"We're having a baby," he told her with a smile. Her eyes widened a bit at his words and focused on his. Tears started seeping out and running down her cheeks. Out of relief or pure joy, the Doctor wasn't sure. He just lent down and gently kissed them off her cheeks. Getting caught off guard in the process when Angel grabbed one of his lapels and pulled him down further, capturing his lips in a kiss that lasted for several minutes.

They stopped when Angel took his hand and placed it on her bump. Both of them feeling, for the first time, their baby kick at the presences of it's father.

"Yes, Theta. We're having a baby," she laughed a little at the prospect of getting to say his name again.

_**Disclaimer: I know, it's backwards day. I don't own any aspect of Doctor Who and I most certainly don't own any of LizzeXX's awesome stories or OC's. All memories that the Doctor had were copy-n-pasted from LizzeXX's own stories. No plagiarism! **_


End file.
